Teams & Riders The Remco Evenepoel is the next Eddy Merckx thread

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dutchdescent

dutchdescent

Feb 25, 2016
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memyselfandI said:
+1

Just worrying how deep he digs this early and how deep his team digs this early.
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We’ll see of course. It can go either way. He rides with confidence and pedals smooth which is always a pleasure to watch from ANY contender that is dominant, not just from Remco. I take it as a sign that he has those few % extra. Curiously it is often the case with the dominant rider in a GT.
 
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Riek s

Jun 24, 2010
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Felt like he went to deep, probably to eager to get time on Mas/Roglic he went a bit to hard. If he paced better he might have had a better time/result. On the other hand he didn't prepare the climb so guess it is to be expected.

Hopefully he recovers from this since i think it might linger a bit more. His concurrent seemed to have paced a bit better. OFcourse he still rode it 40seconds faster than the others... almost 10s/km which is ...absurd. in his case it was 20s/km when he went...
 
Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
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Riek s said:
Felt like he went to deep, probably to eager to get time on Mas/Roglic he went a bit to hard. If he paced better he might have had a better time/result. On the other hand he didn't prepare the climb so guess it is to be expected.

Hopefully he recovers from this since i think it might linger a bit more. His concurrent seemed to have paced a bit better. OFcourse he still rode it 40seconds faster than the others... almost 10s/km which is ...absurd. in his case it was 20s/km when he went...
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However, this was the first time he dropped both Mas and Roglic, while the climb was only a few klicks. Once you open up the throttle on such a climb, it's difficult to dial it down and pace evenly, especially when in the last stages you were riding high tempo and always towed someone to the line. And just think how much energy the others expended to narrow the gap.

Tomorrow is a rest day you know, so today he could afford to expend a bit more. I thought, given the previous stages, bar a bad day, that there was no reason why he should not drop his rivals today. Even so, confirmation is still a pleasant surprise, because, well, you just never know. However, logic forecasted that the actual outcome was ever going to be the more likely.

But as they say, you are only as good as your last result. Tomorrow is another day.
 
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Oldermanish

Jan 31, 2016
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IndianCyclist said:
He is probably on the way to win his first GT
Onto Pogacar and Vingegaard in 2023 TDF
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While I'm enjoying his solid efforts, particularly today on Stage 9; we're getting ahead of ourselves. He was controlled today and seemed to keep an eye on his data at key moments. He was approaching the first 20%+ switchback, checked on his followers and saw they were starting to struggle. He knew he had the pulse rate/watts to spare for that point and pressed hard around that switchback and gained almost 10 seconds. That shows mature presence of mind and strategy IMO.
As for the rest of race: the hills at this point have been below 1,100m. S15 at 2,300m and S20 at 1,850m are taller but only Stage 20 approach TdF elevations. In my experience 1,800m/6,000 ft are where weaknesses become exposed, particularly in the late stages of a GT. That's where Pogi, Vingo and Roglic play their major efforts and a long way from the hills of Spain. Stage 15 could be his confirming moment for the Tour and Giro but he should have the time gap to ride his own ride in the Vuelta.
 
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Big Doopie

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Looking at GC and trying to predict conservatively gaps after the ITT, I think QS job becomes easier as teams will start helping them to thwart other top ten competition (and for some to ensure UCI points or being best Spaniard). The only real threat will be if Rog rounds into top shape, because he has absolutely nothing to lose (having won the race three times).

Remco will likely be able to ride without having to do many accelerations (I feel like he has done that so far to minimize how much he goes into the red in his efforts over three weeks). He could of course be “found out” in the third week or at high altitude, but defending, I believe, just got a bit easier.
 
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Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
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Seems that it wasn't too much of a stretch to have Remco as the favorite in this race. What a performance!

Fabio Jacobsen must be pissing his pants because if this continues, I don't think he'll ride Tour de France next year. And its even worse if your name is Tim Merlier.
 
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Riek s

Jun 24, 2010
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Extinction said:
However, this was the first time he dropped both Mas and Roglic, while the climb was only a few klicks. Once you open up the throttle on such a climb, it's difficult to dial it down and pace evenly, especially when in the last stages you were riding high tempo and always towed someone to the line. And just think how much energy the others expended to narrow the gap.

Tomorrow is a rest day you know, so today he could afford to expend a bit more. I thought, given the previous stages, bar a bad day, that there was no reason why he should not drop his rivals today. Even so, confirmation is still a pleasant surprise, because well you just never know. However, logic forecasted that the actual outcome was ever going to be the more likely.

But as they say, you are only as good as your last result. Tomorrow is another day.
Click to expand...

sure i completely agree, just that i believe he could potentially do more damage with slightly better pacing, but its hard if you don't know the climb.
I also believe those 20% sections where he really struggled. Ayuso/Rodrigez seemed more fluent on such a section. Think he had a tooth to little, he was really using his back on that section instead of his usual pace. But still amazing ride. As said in the vuelta topic, when Yates won here he took 2-11 seconds on his closest rivals in 2018.. so this is a whole different kind of cake. the time difference between Ayusa and co were more in line with 2018. Remco was just far above it... took 40 seconds on 2km, and not because the others bonked.
 
sir fly

sir fly

Feb 24, 2014
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QS will need to strengthen their GT contingent in the coming years.
Could take some time, as we know from other examples, but it's necessary.
 
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Red Rick

Red Rick

Feb 20, 2012
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Riek s said:
Nice, i timed it on 15:12. but the beginning was tricky.

Still, given how the competition did, it seemed a much harder stage/more fatique than in 2018.
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Overall stage wasn't raced hard, but the 5 minutes before the start of the climb were bombed like crazy.

It seems to be Evenepoels preferred climbing strategy.
 
Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
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Oldermanish said:
While I'm enjoying his solid efforts, particularly today on Stage 9; we're getting ahead of ourselves. He was controlled today and seemed to keep an eye on his data at key moments. He was approaching the first 20%+ switchback, checked on his followers and saw they were starting to struggle. He knew he had the pulse rate/watts to spare for that point and pressed hard around that switchback and gained almost 10 seconds. That shows mature presence of mind and strategy IMO.
As for the rest of race: the hills at this point have been below 1,100m. S15 at 2,300m and S20 at 1,850m are taller but only Stage 20 approach TdF elevations. In my experience 1,800m/6,000 ft are where weaknesses become exposed, particularly in the late stages of a GT. That's where Pogi, Vingo and Roglic play their major efforts and a long way from the hills of Spain. Stage 15 could be his confirming moment for the Tour and Giro but he should have the time gap to ride his own ride in the Vuelta.
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Sure, but remember Remco prepared specifically for long, high altitude climbs for this; at Livigno, or was it Bormio, I can't remember.

Then I keep hearing doubts about his longue duree and high altitude prospects, and based on last year's Giro. However, this is absurd since at the time it was a botched attempt to pull a rabit out of the hat for all the reasons known.

Now, I ask myself, if Jai Hindley and Tao Geogeghen Hart can demonstrate a resiliancy at high altitude over three weeks (no offence to these excellent riders),why should Remco Evenepoel be any less physically capable? It would practically be a freak anomaly were he not. Of course, he still needs to demonstrate such, but at this rate, if he keeps it up, he'll win this Vuelta by 5 minutes to second place. So I just don't get, not the doubts, as I too harbor them, but the unreasonable skepticism, which is different. I mean with Remco were not exactly dealing with chopped liver.
 
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VayaVayaVaya

Jun 1, 2015
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So a great effort and crushed the competition no doubt, but not as fast as I expected. Not apples to apples, but :12 faster than Yates, :14 than Valverde / MAL, :17 than Pinot, :19 than Quintana, :23 than Crushweak, :31 than Mas…all 2018 performances.
 
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Riek s

Jun 24, 2010
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TT parcour is slightly downhill. So i expect high speeds and potentially lower time gaps then if it were really flat or false flat in the other direction :).

The wind will determine how much chance remco has to win the TT. If it is tailwind with this parcour he might get steep competition from the heavier riders)
If it is a headwind... difference could be huge.
Looking at the TT of Mas he isn't that bad. I think with a gap of 2minutes... REmco might see him at the end in a very long stretch, but don't think he will catch him.
 
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Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
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VayaVayaVaya said:
So a great effort and crushed the competition no doubt, but not as fast as I expected. Not apples to apples, but :12 faster than Yates, :14 than Valverde / MAL, :17 than Pinot, :19 than Quintana, :23 than Crushweak, :31 than Mas…all 2018 performances.
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But was the 2018 stage ridden after a hard MTF previously? And what was the 2018 stage like, the same, harder, easier?
 
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Riek s

Jun 24, 2010
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VayaVayaVaya said:
So a great effort and crushed the competition no doubt, but not as fast as I expected. Not apples to apples, but :12 faster than Yates, :14 than Valverde / MAL, :17 than Pinot, :19 than Quintana, :23 than Crushweak, :31 than Mas…all 2018 performances.
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True, but in the same ordeal
Simon Yates lost 1m3
Lopez 1m28
Valverde lost 1m32
Pinot 6m30


So today stage or at least the state of the groupetto at the end of the stage was completely different. So like you said not really apples to apples.


Edit i'm pretty sure in 2018 the fastest part of the climb was the last km, while here the fastest part was before that final km.
 
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